Learnstruments in Value Creation Networks

Companies and people around the world today are confronted with the requirements and impacts of globalization. They are embedded in a highly dynamic environment that is subjected to rapid and permanent changes in terms of economic, environmental and social dimensions. In order to sustain competitiveness and to ensure their continuity in a sustainable way, companies need well trained employees. It requires new forms of social learning for having better-trained-citizens with a sustainable set of values. Therefore the development of tools for knowledge transfer and training methods is required to address the challenge of sustainability in an integrative approach that is action orientated and goes beyond technical fixes. Innovative ideas are required to develop and evaluate products and services according to ecological, environmental and social sustainability criteria. These concepts have to be introduced to and understood by all participants, spread among the world and coming from different cultural and educational backgrounds. But how can we mediate knowledge for technical innovation and understanding of sustainable value creation to people all over the world? In order to meet this challenge, the effectiveness of teaching and learning has to be increased tremendously.
Potentials for new teaching and learning concepts can be exploited by means of innovative product design in combination with modern information technology. The goal of the project is to develop objects in manufacturing systems which mediate these aspects as well as their functioning automatically – so called learnstruments. They help to understand the values of sustainable manufacturing through:

Combination and selection of new and existing learning material and methods for teaching sustainability aspects of manufacturing

Development of guidelines for designing technologies and devices for ease of teaching and learning

Development of automated assistance technologies

In the first funding period the prototypical implementation of a learning environment for increased teaching and learning productivity through the application of learnstruments and Information and Communication Technology (ICT) was realized. A prototypical manual assembly work place serves as an exemplary environment and should demonstrate the mediation principles through the integration of depiction elements as well as expert system support for their adaptation to the user level of qualification. In perusing this goal, methods have been identified for assuring that the devised learnstruments mediate their proper use and their working principles.Learn more about challenges, approach and results of project C5 in this Powerpoint presentation